Subject:Ribbon/Blue ribbon
Entries
Entry 10591
A leather-wing bat, now, understan'. Now, if yo' wanta sell a fellah a hot hand fo' gamblin', go an' ketch yo' a leather-wing bat. Git him alive. Sometime dey go in people's house an' dey knock 'em down wit brooms, in de summertime, dey fly in [there being no screens]. Knock 'em down wit a ole broom, or yo' kin go in ole stumps or ole logs where dey roost at an' yo' kin git 'em out dat-a-way. Yo' can't find 'em in daytime. Yo' take de leather-wing bat an' yo' set right down an' take yore kife, a ole lknife or somepin lak dat an' split him right open in de back. Jes' split it right open while he's live, split him right open in de back jes' lak dat, zo'reach up dere in his left side an' git his little heart out. It's a little ean, de biggest one dey is about lak dat [demonstrates]. Git his little beart ota dere 'bout lak dat. An' he ain't even daid. While he 'live git dat heart ou of dere. Jes' take yore finger an' pull dat heart out. Take dat heart an' go on back wit it, don' wash de blood off, not nuthin. An' git chew a red, an' ah mean red, too; a red an' blue piece of ribbon. Jes' as red [informant points] as dat ring round dat big coffee cup. [In Fayetteville, N. Car., I worked in a kitchen-dining room and I still remember it vaguely.] Let it be jes' 'bout dat wide, an' take it an' set it right down an' lay dat heart in dere, an' sew dat heart up in dat ribbon. Have it long enough an' sew it up in dere good an' tight. Take dat bat heart an' yo' wear it on yo' right han' [see later]. Take dat bat heart in dat piece of ribbon, sew it, make it kind of a belt-lak an' carry it up dere round yore wrist yo' understand, above de elbow, up heah, understand. Fit it up dere, sew dat on dere tight so it fit lak a belt, won't slip off, an' wear it on dere. Sleep wit it on dere. As long as dat bat heart stays in dere lak dat, yo' kin do any kinda bettin' dat yo' want done. Yo' kin win money an' gamble wit it, understand, an' yo' kin go out an' steal it. Go out an' do anything lak dat, an' people could shoot at chew, an' nine times to one, dey nevah hit chew. Wit dat bat heart yo' kin dodge bullets yo' kin dodge a shot.
Entry 3028
Now, St. Peter is another saint. He don't pray. St. Peter don't pray atall. He's - he don't stand no foolishness. Now, St. Peter is a man who'll do anything that you ask him to do, for this simple reason - he's got the keys of heaven, see. Now, you get down and you get to St. Peter and you ask him for things, he'll open the way for you. You ask him to open the way for you and he'll open the way for you and he'll let you get jobs. You promise him something, give it to him. Now, the biggest thing you can give St. Peter is a key. You get you a key and get you a piece of blue ribbon. Put that key on a piece of blue ribbon and hang it around his neck; give it to him and you'll have success in every way and in every respect that you undertake. Understand.
(Where do you have St. Peter? In the church you mean?)
St. Peter's in the church. Course you could have 'im at the house, if you have 'im blest, but you got to always be sure you know what you are doing when you talking to saints. Course we talking to the saints, but we talking to The Man Above, too, because He's got something to do with this, you see. But when you.talking to the saints and you promise them things, if you don't hold to your promise you're just blowed up - that's all there's to it.